Readers are being given the chance to come face-to-face with more than 20 Oxford authors at a special writers event this month.

Writers In Oxford, a society of about 200 authors from across the city, is holding a Christmas Book Fair at the Corner Club in Turl Street, Oxford, on Saturday, November 22.

Organised by the society’s membership secretary Cherry Moteshar, the aim of the fair — the first one organised by the group — is to bring the public into closer contact with authors.

Ms Moteshar said: “There are people living next to writers who are reasonably famous, but they don’t even know it.

“This event will give people the chance to get to know writers and their works, and talk to them about the ideas behind the books.”

She said the idea for the event had been inspired by a comment made at one of the society’s meetings.

She said: “Someone described writing as Oxford’s cottage industry.

“The city has such a long history of great writers, with Lewis Carroll, C.S Lewis and Tolkien.

“The university has had a lot to do with this history, with academics coming to the city and writing in their spare time.

“But we currently have a collection of people who are writing popular books in all sorts of genres, and we wanted to celebrate that.”

Writers In Oxford chairman, and published author, Frank Egerton, said he was looking forward to the event.

Mr Egerton published The Lock, a story about an Oxford don who has an affair with an undergraduate, in 2003.

He said: “We have held talks in the past, but this is the first time that we have done anything like this.

“I think it’s a great idea.

“People can come along and hear a few readings by authors and talk about books.

“A lot of our members are fantastic authors, and it’s great to have an event to promote what they are doing.

“And being so close to Christmas, it will give people a chance to get a great gift.”

The event follows successful literary festivals at Woodstock, Witney, and the Oxford Literary Festival, which is backed by The Sunday Times and our sister paper The Oxford Times.

Mr Egerton added: “The growth we have seen in the popularity of literary festivals shows that there is a demand for this sort of thing.”

Other authors taking part in the day include crime writer Peter Guttridge, author of the popular Nick Madrid series of books; Olivia Knight, who writes erotic fiction; and science writer Donna Dickenson, author of Body Shopping.

The event takes place between 10.30am and 5pm.

Admission is free, For more information visit writersinoxford.org